Posted on 10/18/2003 6:48:58 AM PDT by Wolfie
Rush and Chong
Within a month's time, drug war supporter and conservatives’ conservative Rush Limabugh fesses up (only after being outed by a tabloid) about his addiction to prescription pain killers and 70s pothead icon Tommy Chong (the other half of Cheech and Chong) is sentenced to nine months in prison, not for possession of the evil weed, not for distribution of the enticing white powder, but for selling “paraphernalia.” America has definitely reached the boiling point of hypocrisy in its useless drug war.
Rush Limbaugh in his brief public admission to his addiction attempted to veil it with an excuse. Rush, claims that pain caused by an unsuccessful surgery drove him to addiction. This may be true, but coming from a person who has mocked others drug problems and even publicly supported their incarceration, his actions deserve more scrutiny.
Mr. Limbaugh has made a comfortable living from his radio talent, and he has used his bully pulpit to espouse and spread his views. His public views on illegal drug use are well known, and since he has profited from making his views public he now owes the public an “honest” explanation. There are many question yet unanswered; how can a public figure call for the incarceration of drug users, while privately consuming drugs illicitly himself? Will Mr. Limbaugh’s public stand on the War on drugs differ when he returns or will he simply try to explain away his actions (like a liberal)?
The cat is out of the proverbial bag, many Americans have known for years that the war on drugs is not about drugs. This drug war is a war by our own government on its own citizens, it has made mince meat of the fourth amendment, it has shredded the second amendment, it has given the government the power to peak into our finances, it has run rough shod over private property rights, it has turned our inner cities into war zones, it has turned non violent youths into criminals and in the process ruined countless lives.
Though most Americans hope that Mr. Limbaugh recovers from his addiction, many others also hope more importantly that he recovers from his duplicity. Will drug warriors blindly continue to support this defenseless war? Will they simply consider Rush more human and more worthy of forgiveness than a poor man busted for buying crack? Maybe the rules aren’t the same for everyone? Bush, Gore and Clinton all admitted to what were considered for them youthful “indiscretions”, but for the not so connected folks these are not youthful “indiscretions” but “crimes”, plain and simple.
Mr. Chong’s plight should concern all of us. He was convicted of selling “drug paraphernalia”, more specifically decorative pipes. Though one would suspect that most folks buying colorful; pipes from self professed “head” Tommy Chong to be packing them with marijuana and other illicit substances, Mr. Chong was not providing the pot nor was he packing their bowls with goodies. What constitutes “paraphernalia”? Today even glow sticks, bottled water and lollipops can be considered drug “paraphernalia.” What will be next: orange juice and baking soda?
We can only hope that these recent events will shed a light on all the stupidity and grief the drug war has caused. No one knows for sure whether Rush will quit his prescription pain killers after his rehab or if Tommy Chong will swear off the evil weed after his stint in the poky, but if our government doesn’t quit cold turkey on its drug war thousands upon thousands of innocent Americans will continue to suffer needlesly for many years to come.
Just when you thought the wacky socialists had spent their entire lifes energies pouring over Nixon's White House tapes, looking for little titillating tidbits of damning information, we find that some had time to procreate. Their offspring, unfortunately, are alive and well, and wasting their youth on Limbaugh.
Keep the coffee hot
Even though a pound of it was found when they searched his house.
Another celebrity gets over... but I guess it isn't hypocritical of this author to ignore that.
Because he's got a point to make:
That other people are hypocritical.
Shoot first, ask questions later...or maybe don't ask any questions!
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